Officer Safety and Wellness: 

An Overview of the Issues 

by Mora L. Fiedler 

Day, Month Date, 2011 

 

Officer Safety and WellneSS: 

an OvervieW Of the iSSueS 

Defining the Issue 

In the past year, our country has experienced economic challenges that have translated 

into major changes in the way law enforcement delivers services. Budget cuts for a 

significant number of law enforcement agencies have resulted in layoffs, furloughs, 

hiring freezes, retirement incentives, and operation consolidation or elimination. Other 

agencies, in their attempt to preserve officer strength, are cutting their budgets by 

eliminating crucial in-service training and health prevention programs. 

While agencies are determining how to best manage their shrinking budgets, these 

changes are impacting officers1

 in various ways, such as creating larger patrol areas to 

cover, decreasing the number of backup officers, and increasing stress due to a myriad 

of factors experienced in the field. Most importantly, these changes impact officer 

safety, wellness, and health. At a time when an agency’s most important resource is 

its personnel, officers are expected to continue providing quality and efficient services 

under the umbrella of declining opportunities for training, health, and wellness 

programs—all important factors that contribute to maintaining officer safety and 

welfare. 

Data from Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA)2

 reports that 

57,268 officers were assaulted on duty in 2009, with 18,672 of those events occurring 

at locations from which officers received disturbance calls. This was followed by 8,797 

officers assaulted while attempting to make an arrest and 7,274 assaults sustained 

during handling, transporting, and supervising prisoners.3

 From 2000–2009, a total 

of 728 officers were accidently killed due to events such as automobile, motorcycle, 

or aircraft accidents; being struck by cars; shooting accidents; drowning or falling; or 

explosion or electrocution accidents.4 

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, www.nleomf.com, 

the total number of officers killed in the line of duty from January 1 to September 14, 

2011 is 124, a 4 percent increase compared to 2010. Based on the same timeframe, 

auto related deaths are down 15 percent, and the number of officers fatally shot is up 

14 percent. 

1
 
Figure 1

Figure 1. 2006–2009 Rate of Change in Violent Crime of Officers Fatally

Shot 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2006-2009 Violent Crime Rates 

from Uniform Crime Rate Report 

+30.0 

+20.0 

2006 2007 2008 2009 

Violent Crime 

Rate of Change +10.0 

Officers Fatally Shot +0.0 

Rate of Change -10.0 

-20.0 

-30.0 

-40.0 

-50.0 

Figure 1. 2006–2009 Rate of Change in Violent Crime of Officers Fatally Shot 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, unpublished 

Violent crime rates were not only down in 2009 but also showed a steady decline since 

2006. However, as violent crime rates went down, the number of officers fatally shot in 

the line of duty has been increasing. Brazen and senseless attacks on officers that have 

resulted in death have been primarily through ambushed or unprovoked incidents. 

Ambushes have attributed to nearly 40 percent of the officers feloniously killed in 2011, 

an increase of 31.25 percent from the 2009 LEOKA data. According to the same data, 

21.5 percent of the law enforcement officers feloniously killed from 2000–2009 were 

the victims of an ambush.5 

Then there are the silent contributors to an officer’s poor health and well-being, such as 

stress, poor nutrition, no exercise, post-traumatic stress, and depression. Through diet, 

exercise, and adequate sleep, officers can reduce their chances of hypertension, heart 

disease, cancer, degenerative joint diseases, and diabetes.6 

Focusing on officer health, safety, and wellness is critical. As such, this paper is a call 

to action for agencies to preserve and support the well-being of the law enforcement 

officer. This is not an exhaustive list of current research, best practices, services, or 

training opportunities; this paper is a launching point from which to raise national 

attention to consider and discuss the gaps in research, to recognize best practices, and 

to identify existing resources available to agencies so that they can preserve their most 

valuable resource—their personnel. 

2
 
Fostering a safe working environment, protecting the safety of officers, and supporting 

health and wellness priorities can be broadly defined under four categories: 

◾ Leadership and Management 

◾ Operational and Emergency Responses 

◾ Training 

◾ Mental and Physical Health Wellness 

Leadership and Management 

Leadership and management are the cornerstones to ensuring officer safety, health, and 

wellness as an organizational value and practice. Setting the tone for the organization 

begins with walking the walk—leadership should maintain their health and fitness, thus 

setting the example for all. 

Management should ensure officers are provided the best safety policies and 

procedures, opportunities to train, time to hone their skills and abilities, and resources 

to make safety a priority for the organization. Some agencies may be tempted to cut 

training and health and wellness resources, but these should be considered mission 

critical to the profession and cuts should be avoided at all costs. Just like an agency 

should not send a cruiser out with low tire pressure or inoperable lights and sirens, 

an agency should not send an officer into the field who is overweight, overly tired or 

stressed, or unsure how to best approach an incident. 

Maintaining optimum health and well-being for officers is crucial in enabling them 

to think and perform in a manner that safeguards not only them but also their fellow 

officers. Numerous services and training are available that encourage physical, 

nutritional, and mental health. Also, accessibility and support without retribution or 

shame will optimize an officer’s well-being and help to ensure peak performance. 

Accountability is the number one factor in upholding the best safety and wellness 

practices. Constant equipment compliance checks, proper weapons deployment, and 

policy and procedure enforcement can significantly minimize officer injuries and 

fatalities. Ongoing monitoring and enforcing compliance will set the tone for meeting 

high standards, expectations, and practices that help to ensure officer safety. 

Examples of tangible strategies for leadership and management are: 

◾ Reviewing and implementing deployment strategies that minimize safety risks 

◾ Utilizing real-time communication and state-of-the art technologies for field officers 

◾ Enforcing the proper fit and wearing of protective body armor and gear 

3
 
Regarding example one, some things to consider when developing and implementing 

deployment schedules include the number of officers assigned per car in a high-crime 

area, geographical distance between units to provide timely backup, and avoidance of 

situations that contribute to sleep deprivation, such as scheduling night shift officers to 

report for duty the following day. Sleep deprivation is a major concern, and its impact 

from overtime and secondary employment should also be considered in deployment 

schedules. 

According to research by Dr. Bryan Vila, a leading sleep research expert on the effects 

of officer fatigue, sleep deprivation contributes to officers’ irritability with the public 

and inability to maintain calm in situations due to diminishing attentiveness; it also 

impairs physical and cognitive abilities.7

 Sleep deprivation “sets up a vicious cycle: 

fatigue decreases your ability to deal with stress and stress decreases your ability to 

deal with fatigue.”8 

Other contributing causes of fatigue include: 

◾ Shift lengths – officers on compressed (12-hour) shifts feel less fatigue 

at the beginning of the shift 

◾ Shift assignment policies – older officers assigned to night shifts are less 

able to cope with fatigue and sleep disturbances 

◾ Commuting – officers confronted with long commuting distances are more 

fatigued, especially if confronted with high volumes of traffic9 

Also, utilizing advanced technology and wearing effective safety gear (e.g., body 

armor and advanced weaponry) help to enhance street safety. It is worth budgeting 

for technology that increases an officer’s capacity to remain safe, such as access to 

real-time data and multi-jurisdictional criminal records while in the field. Other ways 

agencies can capitalize on advanced technology is by improving reflective markings 

on cruisers (e.g., upgrading to LED lighting) and installing new and more effective 

seatbelt mechanisms that clear the officer’s belt and gun holster, thus improving driver 

safety. One of the latest technological advancements is the wearing of body cameras, 

which document the events of an incident, leaving no question as to appropriate safety 

measures and department protocol in handling a situation. 

Two of the most proactive measures an agency can take in ensuring officer safety on 

the streets are 1) mandatory wearing of body armor and 2) maintaining state-of-theart armories. There are countless stories of body armor having saved officers’ lives. 

LEOKA data shows that 521 officers were feloniously shot and killed from 1997–2006, 

and 306 of them were wearing body armor.10 These fatalities, however, were due to 

shots in other areas of the body that the armor could not shield. Only one officer was 

fatally shot when struck in the body due to armor failure. As stated in “The BJA/PERF 

Body Armor National Survey: Protecting the Nation’s Law Enforcement Officer” report, 

out of the 782 agencies surveyed, 99.4 percent wear body armor when on duty, and 41 

percent do not require officers to wear body armor.11 

4
 
Equally important is how officers select, care, and maintain their vests. The “Selection 

and Application Guide to Personal Body Armor” outlines the latest on armor 

classifications for duty assignments and care and maintenance, among other important 

related topics.12 In addition, “Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor NIJ Standard-0101.06” 

describes “conditioning protocols, revised test methods, changes to the levels of armor 

classification, and more stringent performance requirements.”13 

The second most important proactive measure an agency can take is maintaining 

weaponry and building police arsenals to compete with the criminals on the street (e.g., 

AR-15s, Tec-9s, AK-47s, and Uzis). With criminals commonly using assault weapons, an 

officer showing up at a gun fight with a handgun will only jeopardize the safety of his or 

her own life. Due to the proliferation of assault weapons on the street, more and more 

agencies are adding high-powered assault rifles to their arsenals. Equipping officers with 

state-of-the-art weaponry from less than lethal to lethal will help to reduce risk of injury 

or death. 

Electronic control weapons (ECWs) are becoming an agency’s go-to weapon in 

situations that require less than lethal force. “More than 15,500 law enforcement 

agencies in more than 40 countries are using ECWs.”14 Granted, there are safety risks 

with these weapons, but the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the Office of 

Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) recently published the 2011 

Electronic Control Weapon Guidelines, which suggests policies and training procedures 

to improve officer and civilian safety when ECWs are deployed. 

Operational and Emergency Responses 

All too often an incident can go wrong when an officer might least expect it, and the 

unpredictability of a suspect’s actions heightens an officer’s safety risk. Any proactive 

measures an agency can implement to improve these risks are worthy of its time 

and resources. Operational and emergency responses can be addressed in numerous 

areas, but the four topics agencies should immediately begin with are vehicle and foot 

pursuits, task force operations, offender information, and court security. The only cost 

is time if agencies review, develop, and implement risk mitigation plans, policies, and 

procedures. 

There have been ongoing discussions over the years regarding the safety and value of 

vehicle pursuits and the unintended consequences of property damage and vehicular 

accidents and deaths for officers, the public, and suspects. Recently, the Kansas 

Department of Transportation released data showing that 38 people died from 2000– 

2009 in crashes during police pursuits—26 were drivers, 7 were passengers, and 5 were 

victims who had no involvement in the chase.15 In addition, Wichita is reviewing their 

pursuit policies because their police were involved in 170 vehicle pursuits (the lowest 

since they began keeping record in 2006), of which 1 in 4 resulted in crashes.16 

5
 
Until 2011, the number one cause of officer deaths was motor vehicle crashes, which 

is now second to officers fatally shot in the line of duty.17 According to the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), from 1982–2008 a total of 823 law 

enforcement officers were killed—733 were in passenger vehicles and 90 were on 

motorcycles.18 

Areas to consider when reviewing vehicle pursuits include the types of pursuits, 

reporting procedures, training, injuries, deaths, litigations, and policies and procedures, 

all of which will ensure the implementation of best practices. Alternative methods to 

slowing a suspect’s vehicle should be considered as well, although they also have safety 

risks and should be carefully evaluated for safety deployment procedures. 

Foot pursuits have led to numerous officer injuries, which often takes them off the 

streets. Thus, officers are assigned to light-duty positions, medically retired or, worse, 

killed in the line of duty. Determining the risks of foot pursuits is imperative, not only 

for the safety of the pursuing officer but also for the backup officers and public. From 

January 1 through August 31, 2011, out of 50 officers fatally shot in the United States, 

two were involved in foot pursuits.19 

Ongoing training is important to ensure officers understand the contributing risk 

factors that can lead to an injury or death due to a foot pursuit. Such risk factors 

include acting alone, chasing someone in unfamiliar areas or where there are hostile 

feelings toward police, pursing an armed suspect or multiple suspects, and taking action 

without available backup.20 Additional risk factors are officers being physically unfit, 

having no means of communications, running in poor weather (i.e., icy conditions), 

and undertaking a chase in darkness.21 Sometimes, the safety risks may not be worth 

pursuing a fleeing suspect, and knowing when to stand-down is essential. 

Reviewing vehicle and foot policies and procedures to assure they are up-to-date is 

another component of risk factor mitigation. Even though many agencies send officers 

policy and procedure updates, the officers are not always dependable in actually 

looking at the updates, which turns a resource into a potential job hazard for officers if 

the update discusses the handling of critical incidents. CALEA requires through their 

standards that agencies post and track the reading of updated policies. However, a lot 

of agencies are not CALEA-accredited and, therefore, are not required to follow any 

specific standard of posting updated policies and ensuring their officers are actually 

reading them. 

Task force operations, whether local, regional, or federal, are typically formulated 

to address high-incident-based criminal activity, such as drugs and weapons or sex 

trafficking, as well as for warrant services. In analyzing the data on officers fatally shot 

in the line of duty from January 1 through August 31, 2011, out of the total number 

of incidents that have occurred, seven involved officers serving arrest warrants that 

resulted in nine officers fatally shot.22 Perhaps nothing could have prevented the 

outcome of these situations, but further analysis would help the field to understand 

the circumstances and determine what can be learned from these tactical operations. 

6
 
For example, is there a need for more coordinating training events between local and 

federal partners, or are there policies and procedures that should be institutionalized? 

While officers engaged in task force operations have the benefit of knowing offender 

history prior to serving warrants, the officer on the street most often does not readily 

have this information. Officers have access to the National Crime Information 

Center (NCIC); however, the database is not guaranteed to have the most up-to-date 

information on the offender. According to NCIC policy, they encourage “the inquiring 

agency to make contact with the entering agency to verify the information is accurate 

and up-to-date.”23 

NCIC definitely helps officers who make traffic stops, but patrol officers, who often 

must arrive rapidly to a scene, must make quick decisions even though they often do 

not have complete information on (or even know the identity of) a suspect. Analysts, 

dispatchers, and police trainers all play an important role in this regard by providing 

as much detailed information as they can obtain while an officer is in route to a call. 

Literature is limited, however, regarding which systems and best practices agencies are 

currently utilizing to provide real-time suspect or address history. 

Another critical area for consideration is court security. This year an officer was shot 

and killed with her service gun when she was overtaken by an offender being walked 

from court to the prison transportation van.24 Understanding the vulnerabilities in 

court security and prisoner transportation is critical to ensure deputy safety in civil 

courts and court security officers in federal courts. Over the years, court security 

has been enhanced to include defense tactics, terrorist threats, bomb threats, highrisk trials, and attacks in the courtrooms.25 The National Center for State Courts has 

recently released a publication describing best practices for court security and provides 

comprehensive steps to address, for example, securing access to buildings, courts, 

chambers, and lobbies; checking security officer staffing levels; handling in-custody 

defendants; and training.26 

Ensuring on-the-job safety is everyone’s responsibility, but every agency should review 

policies and procedures for vehicle and foot pursuits, task force operations, and court 

security. 

Training 

Training is another fundamental factor for officer safety, health, and wellness and thus 

is not the area to cut corners or costs. It should be the primary investment made by 

an organization. Yet, when economic times tighten budgets, training is usually the first 

to be eliminated. Most agencies have annual hours dedicated for in-service training, 

but often the additional or advanced training opportunities are what enhance officer 

knowledge, minimize risks or mistakes, and help hone duty-specific skills, knowledge, 

and abilities. 

7
 
Tactical training enables officers to keep honing skills such as driving, handling violent 

encounters, and operating less than lethal and lethal weapons. Driver training keeps 

officers well informed of best practices and executing those techniques in different 

training scenarios through classroom learning and driving experiences using range 

driving, simulators, and computer-based simulators. 

Violent encounters are one of the most hazardous risks for officers. Attacks can be 

direct, physical (e.g., striking, pushing, tripping, grabbing, kicking, scratching, biting, 

or spitting), or with weapons (e.g., knives, guns, or clubs). Constant training and 

practicing techniques that prepare officers for situations such as these are crucial in 

safeguarding their lives. 

An additional benefit from training is preventing injuries, which also lowers workers 

compensation costs. For example, the Municipal Policing Authority provides risk 

management to 14 police departments and 20 municipalities in Contra Costa County 

(California). Through their analysis, they found an increasing number of injuries 

resulting in officer downtime and increasing workers compensation costs primarily due 

to sprains and strains. They implemented a training program to address injuries caused 

by lifting, pushing, pulling, twisting, bending, and stooping, as well as proper techniques 

for stepping over barriers to avoid tripping hazards. “The overall cost of police injuries 

after the implementation of the Backsafe program has been reduced from $3.5 million 

per year to $1 million per year over a two-year period, representing a 70 percent 

decrease.”27 

The corollary to training to prevent injuries is making sure injuries are not incurred 

while training, whether running through a slalom course or learning how to operate 

an ECW. Making sure officers are physically fit and understand the safety precautions 

when engaging in any training situation are two ways to minimize training injuries. 

Mental and Physical Health Wellness 

Maintaining physical health, encouraging healthy eating and sleeping patterns, and 

supporting mental well-being are important for officer wellness. Physical health 

incorporates regular exercise and proper nutrition. Maintaining a conditioned fitness 

level protects an officer and his or her fellow officers while working. It also has another 

benefit—counteracting stress and depression. 

Adverse physical conditions resulting from not maintaining physical health and a 

proper diet include obesity, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders, sleep 

apnea and other sleep disorders, and type 2 diabetes.28 Agency requirements vary in 

weight maintenance and physical condition, but establishing a standard and holding 

officers accountable is essential to the wellness of the department. Proper exercise and 

diet help to maintain high-performing officers and thus help to minimize injuries and 

8
 
maximize mental alertness. With budgetary cuts and increased demands on officers, the 

need to maintain their physical health and the ways in which agencies provide those 

opportunities are important areas for discussion and review. 

Keeping officers physically fit is also cost effective in its ability to help prevent illness 

or worse. “Expending at least 2,000 calories a week in physical activity reduces an 

individual’s risk of dying of any cause by 28 percent. Mortality rates for unfit men 

were estimated at 64 per 10,000 persons. However, that number drops to 18.6 per 

10,000 persons when looking at those that are most fit. Being physically fit translates 

into fewer sick days, disabilities, and injuries—thereby reducing health-care costs.”29 

Various law enforcement agencies calculated the cost of an in-service heart attack to be 

in the range of $400,000 and $750,000.30

 On the other hand, some officers take physical conditioning to the extreme and 

use performance-enhancing drugs, such as dangerous anabolic steroids, to bulk up. 

This comes with physical health risks, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, 

liver damage, and damage to the left ventricle of the heart, which increases the risk 

of arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac arrest. 

These drugs also create psychiatric problems such as aggression, violence, and manic 

behavior. Steroids are addictive, and drug withdrawals occur when discontinued. 

Intervention in these situations is imperative on all levels—for the health of the officer 

and the safety of fellow officers and the public. 

The mental well-being of an officer is important to consider, especially when that 

officer suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or severe depression, which 

can lead to suicide. PTSD can be triggered by experiencing traumatic events, such 

as crime scenes or exceptionally heinous acts, and can affect returning military vets 

who experienced combat trauma. Recognizing the triggers, signs, and events that can 

cause PTSD will help an agency to guide and support officers in seeking the necessary 

help. There have been numerous studies on providing psychotherapeutic relief for 

those suffering from PTSD. One such treatment that the U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense consider highly effective is Eye Movement 

Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). However, whether psychological services are 

made readily available to officers, whether they are encouraged to access these services, 

and whether they avoid seeking services from fear of being viewed weak or unable to 

perform in the line of duty are questions and issues that must be addressed. 

Severe depression, which often leads to officer suicides, is sometimes linked to PTSD 

but can also be brought on by other life-altering trauma or events. In 2010, “there 

were 145 police suicides in the United States, a slight increase over 2009, during which 

there were 143. The suicide rate for police officers remains 17/100,000, compared to 

the general population’s rate of 11/100,000.”31 Depression is debilitating and does not 

always result in suicide; it can manifest itself from ongoing stress and fatigue, which can 

also lead to alcoholism, drug abuse, and domestic violence. 

9
 
Often linked to mental well-being, emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to be aware 

of self-emotions and having self-confidence. Having EI helps a person not only in his or 

her personal competencies, such as self-awareness and self-control, but also in being 

able to interpret situations and manage through them effectively. “EI is not about 

becoming emotionally detached; it is becoming emotionally mature and confident.... 

According to the later version of EI that Goleman [adjunct professor at the University of 

New Haven, Connecticut] promulgated, EI includes: 

◾ becoming more aware of emotional triggers that can instigate an angry 

violent response, such as when officers are called pigs; 

◾ learning tactics to manage one’s own mental state during stressful situations, 

such as a hazardous police chase; 

◾ being more attentive to the impact of daily emotions on long-term moods 

and attitudes toward colleagues and others.”32 

The many aspects of mental and physical health go well beyond the scope of this paper. 

However, the critical aspects of investing and maintaining officer health are the primary 

goals to enhancing officer safety. 

Conclusion 

Now is the time to refocus attention on officer safety, health, and wellness concerns— 

to discuss and identify best practices in protecting our officers. In a time of economic 

uncertainty, officers have more demands than ever to perform in an environment with 

a declining respect for authority and where the community continues to expect a high 

level of service despite the decreasing number of officers and operational funds. 

More than ever officers need to be able to think and perform with ease and accuracy. 

Maintaining and investing in officer safety, health, and wellness is one of the most 

critical actions an agency can take. Finding ways to achieve ongoing development 

is vital to the perseveration of officer wellness. A starting point for discussing the 

complexities, available resources, and best practices can be accomplished through 

leadership and management, policies and procedures, training, and healthy lifestyles. 

10
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes
 

1	 For purposes of this paper, officer is an inclusive term that represents all sworn 

personnel, such as sheriffs, deputies, agents, marshals, state troopers, city police, 

and county police. 

2	 Federal Bureau of Investigations. Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. 

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr 

3	 Ibid. 

4	 Ibid. 

5	 Ibid. 

6	 Roger, Véronique L., Alan S. Go, Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, Robert J. Adams, et. al. 

2011. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2011 Update: A Report from the 

American Heart Association. Circulation 123:e18–e209. 

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/123/4/e18.full.pdf 

7	 Mansorian, Jessica. June 2011. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services – 

The Dispatch. “Fatal Fatigue.” 

http://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/06-2011/index.asp 

8	 Martin-Doto, Cathy. 2011. “Anti-Fatigue Measures Could Cut Cop Deaths 15%, 


Researcher Claims.” Force Science News 172 (February). 


www.forcescience.org/fsinews/2011/02/force-science-news-172-anti-fatiguemeasures-could-cut-cop-deaths-15-researcher-claims
 

9	 Vila, B. J., and D. J. Kenney. 2002. Tired Cops: The Prevalence and Potential 

Consequences of Police Fatigue. National Institute of Justice Journal 248:16–21. 

www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/jr000248d.pdf 

10	 Federal Bureau of Investigations, LEOKA data Law Enforcement Officers Killed 

and Assaulted. 

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/2009/aboutleoka.html 

11	 Police Executive Research Forum. 2009. “The BJA/PERF Body Armor National 

Survey: Protecting the Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers, Phase II Final Report.” 

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. 

www.bja.gov/pdf/PERF_BodyArmor.pdf 

12	 National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center. 2001. “Selection 

and Application Guide to Personal Body Armor, NIJ Guide 100-01 (Update to 

Guide 100–98).” Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice. 

www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/189633.pdf 

11
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13	 Office of Law Enforcement Standards. 2008. “Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor, 

NIJ Standard-0101.06.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National 

Institute of Justice, Office of Science and Technology. 

www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/223054.pdf 

14	 Police Executive Research Forum. 2011. 2011 Electronic Control Weapon 

Guidelines. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community 

Oriented Policing Services. 

15	 Lavinia, Hurst, Accessed August 7, 2011, “Kansas City Drivers Still Free, Crash.” 

The Wichita Eagle. 

www.kansas.com/2011/08/07/1964870/policy-law-changes-havent-reduced.html 

16	 Ibid. 

17	 Officer Down Memorial Page. 

www.odmp.org 

18	 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2011. “Characteristics of Law 

Enforcement Officers’ Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes, publication 811 411.” 

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration. 

www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811411.pdf 

19	 Officer Down Memorial Page. 

www.odmp.org 

20	 International Association of Chiefs of Police, IACP National Law Enforcement 

Policy Center, Foot Pursuits, Concepts and Issues Paper, February 2003. 

21	 Ibid. 

22	 Officer Down Memorial Page. 

www.odmp.org 

23	 National Crime Information Center. 

www.fbibackgroundchecks.com/ncic-background.html 

24	 Officer Down Memorial Page. 

www.odmp.org 

25	 Cooper, Caroline S. 2007. “The Evolving Concept of ‘Court Security.’” Justice 

System Journal 28(1). 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4043/is_200701/ai_n18755738/ 

26	 Fautsko, Timothy F., Steven V. Berson, James F. O’Neil, and Kevin W. Sheehan. 

2010. “Steps to Best Practices for Court Building Security.” Williamsburg, Virginia: 

National Center for State Courts. 

www.tmcec.com/public/files/File/Bailiffs/best%20practices%20for%20court%20 

building%20security.pdf 

12
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27	 PRWeb. 2006. “Injury Prevention Training Drops Police Injuries and Workers 

Comp Costs.” News release November 14. 

www.prweb.com/releases/Injury/Prevention/prweb478289.htm 

28	 Bullock, Thomas. 2007. “Police Officer Injury Study.” VML Insurance Programs 

Law Enforcement Newsletter 1(2) 

www.vmlins.org/Newsletters/Law/injury.htm 

29	 Quigley, Adrienne. 2008. “Fit for Duty? The Need for Physical Fitness Programs for 

Law Enforcement Officers.” The Police Chief 75(6). 

www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_ 

id=1516&issue_id=62008 

30	 Smith, J. E., and G. G. Tooker. 2005. “Health and Fitness in Law Enforcement: 

A Voluntary Model Program Response to a Critical Issue.” CALEA Update 

Magazine 87. 

www.calea.org/newweb/newsletter/No87/healthfitness.htm. 

31	 Badge of Life. 2011. “2010 Police Suicide Statistics.” 

www.policesuicideprevention.com/id48.html 

32	 Saville, Gregory. 2006. “Emotional Intelligence in Policing.” The Police Chief 

73(11). 

www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_ 

arch&article_id=1052&issue_id=112006 

13